SAN DIEGO, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Novocell, Inc., a stem cell
engineering company, today announced data demonstrating for the first time
that human embryonic stem (hES) cells can be turned into pancreatic cells
capable of producing insulin in mice. The findings are reported in an
article appearing on-line today, in advance of print publication, in the
journal Nature Biotechnology. This research provides evidence supporting
the potential future use of hES cells to replace insulin-producing
pancreatic cells that are destroyed in people with Type 1 diabetes,
requiring them to receive regular insulin treatment.

In this new work, Novocell has demonstrated that implantation of
hES-derived pancreatic cells into mice results in the generation of
glucose-responsive insulin producing cells. These cells exhibit properties
characteristic of functional adult pancreatic insulin producing cells in
the pancreas. Most importantly, these hES-derived cells provide protection
in an animal model of diabetes characterized by loss of pancreatic insulin
producing cells.

"Our data provide the first compelling evidence that hES cells can
serve as a renewable source of functional insulin producing cells for
diabetes cell replacement therapies," said Emmanuel Baetge, Ph.D., Chief
Scientific Officer of Novocell and senior author of the publication. "It
also provides strong evidence that hES cell-derived endoderm cells are able
to generate glucose-responsive insulin secreting cells that are
functionally similar to adult human beta cells."

Current cellular therapy for diabetes is performed by transplanting
donor-derived human islets combined with chronic immunosuppression. While
this has been demonstrated to be an effective therapy, the limited
availability of donated pancreatic islets and the adverse side effects of
long-term immunosuppression make this replacement therapy unsuitable for
the general diabetes population.

Together with its stem cell engineering technology for
insulin-producing cells, Novocell has also developed a delivery process by
which such cells might be delivered to patients without the need for
chronic immunosuppression. Novocell's encapsulation technology provides a
protective, coating for cells, thus allowing them to be more readily
accepted in the body without the chronic use of immunosuppressive drugs.
This encapsulation technology has been successfully tested in human
clinical trials using human islets isolated from donor organs.

"By developing proprietary processes to successfully generate
insulin-producing cells from hES cells in vivo and protecting these cells
from immune system rejection, we have created a potential treatment option
that could lead to the first widespread application of cell replacement
therapy for the treatment of diabetes," said Alan J. Lewis, Ph.D.,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Novocell. "We look forward to the
continued advancement of these technologies that hold such promise for
transforming the treatment of diabetes."

About Diabetes

Type 1, or insulin-dependent diabetes occurs when the pancreas ceases
to produce insulin due to an autoimmune response that causes the selective
destruction of insulin producing cells. People with Type 1 diabetes must
take daily insulin and are candidates for pancreatic islet cell
transplantation, which provides the potential to treat the disease. The
disease is most common in children and young adults, accounting for
approximately 10 percent of diabetes cases. The Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation estimates that more than 1.1 million people suffer from Type 1
diabetes in the United States alone. Additionally, approximately 30 percent
of people with Type 2 diabetes require insulin therapy and could
potentially benefit from islet cell transplantation

About Novocell

Novocell, Inc. is a stem cell engineering company with research
operations in San Diego, California and Athens, Georgia, dedicated to
creating, delivering and commercializing cell and drug therapies for
diabetes and other chronic diseases. Novocell has three primary
technologies: stem cell engineering, cell encapsulation and drug discovery.
The Company was founded in 1999 and merged with CyThera, Inc. and BresaGen,
Inc. in 2004. For more information, please visit http://www.novocell.com.

(Date:12/9/2016)... December 9, 2016 The research ... five players in the Global Label-Free Array Systems Market ... market in 2015. Players such as Biacore, Agilent Technologies, ... dominant in the global market due to their unmatched ... innovation. Product upgrades and timely product launches are expected ...

(Date:11/21/2016)... , Nov. 21, 2016 Neurotechnology ... object recognition technologies, today announced that the MegaMatcher ... cards was submitted for the NIST Minutiae ... passed all the mandatory steps of the evaluation ... is a continuing test of fingerprint templates used ...